I just bought a Olympus 18mm f/3.5 lens to serve my ultra-wide needs on a Canon 5D. I still need an adapter. Well, what adapter is the best and where do I buy it. Are there any pitfalls I should be aware of?
I checked the compatability list post and it was only marked (C) does it mean it has been tested and confirmed?
I guess having a focus confirmation would be great for longer lenses but am not shure if it's really beneficial for an 18mm. What's your take? Should I go for a $20 normal adapter or spen $80 an a AF confirm type?
If it's just for the Zuiko 18/3.5, I wouldn't bother with the AF confirmation. From what I've seen of the AF confirmation adapter for OM-EOS has the same quality adapter as the cheapy $20 OM-EOS adapters, so you aren't getting any advantage besides the AF confirmation.
I guess having a focus confirmation would be great for longer lenses but am not shure if it's really beneficial for an 18mm. What's your take? Should I go for a $20 normal adapter or spen $80 an a AF confirm type?
I find that it's much more difficult to focus a 24mm lens manually on my 30D than a 135mm lens. The objects in the viewfinder are simply too small at that focal length. In saying that, the 24mm is a macro, so that may make it more difficult. I recently bought a distagon 28mm and am waiting on the AF confirm adapter. I thought the distagon would be a waste without something more accurate than my eye through my 30d's viewfinder. I have certainly found that these very, very sharp lenses are slightly wasted without some focussing help. When I get the AF confirm adapter and try it out, I'll post my conclusions here. I'm very surprised nobody has done so yet. I just checked happypagehk's ebay feedback very thoroughly. There seems to be plenty of 'does just what it is supposed to'.
I find it much easier to manually focus telephoto and macro lenses. With wide-angle lenses, turning the focus ring seems to make too little difference to be very confident of accurate focus. Focus still matters because the increased depth of field of wide angle lenses is partly off-set by their wide-angle of view which includes more foreground - so its still important to chose the optimum focussing position.
I do recommend the focus confirmation chip: It works [within the limits of Canon's AF system] and I've found it very helpful with poorly lit or other difficult subjects - I make fewer mistakes if the chip is there when I want it.
I've used the chip with 21mm and the 35mm shift lens.
Only problems: 1] Adapter marginally too thin. That's less of a problem than too thick because it allows infinity focus with a some overshoot to allow you to check focus but it means that the distance scale is not accurate and 2] The adapter does not hold the lens with its index mark in precisely the 12 o'clock position. This only matters for the shift lens - and then only a bit: Instead of rising or falling vertically the shift rises [or falls] slightly to one side. You just have to remember to correct the composition slightly after shifting.
Hrannar: if you get the AF adapter for use with the Oly 18mm, let me know your experiences. I am using the Oly 18mm on a 5D, and haven't yet had focus problems (am using a Maxwell hi lux brightened Canon EE-S focus screen), but my interest in the AF adapter is piqued. I find, by way of comparison, that using AF confirmations works well with Canon's 24mm TS-E to get sharp images.
Yes i will report my experience here. I'm not going to put a splitsceen into my 5D yet so focus confirmation can come in handy. I'm actually still waitng for my 5D I bought from a fellow FM-er to arrive. Been waiting for almost 5 weeks and starting to get worried. I got the 18mm Zuiko locally for about $200. Still have to order an adapter.
